Karen Menarry

My work revolves around my love of paper and I enjoy the challenge of designing unusual limited-edition pieces using this versatile medium. For example, I use it for printmaking in its many different forms, including Japanese woodblock printing; I enjoy origami but use copies of old maps to make butterfly mandalas and displays; I make artists books which I may print in, sew in, stamp out, in fact anything I think others will find unusual and interesting. 

My love of printmaking stems from art college and my subject matter from the area I live in, Dumfries and Galloway, with its gentle rolling hills and beautiful beaches and forests. They are represented many times in the art works I produce. The view from my studio at home stretches out to the Galloway Hills and they are constantly in my work, in both my printmaking and my paper folding.

The integrity of each element within the individual artwork is of critical importance to my practise, even in some cases to the making of my own glue for book binding. I enjoy the challenge of thinking of an unusual idea and working out how to bring it to fruition, striving to keep my work fresh and original.